Socket



Patented Aug 1 7, 1 943 Charles E. BookJNater-bury, Conn, assignor to Eyelet Specialty Company, Waterbury, Conn,

a corporation of Connecticut Application March 30, 1942, Serial'No. 436,757

7 3 Claims. (01. 24 75l6) This invention relatesto snap fasteners and more particularly to an improved socket member for snap fasteners; a

Various types of sockets now in use are formed of a single piece of metal and provided with a 1 portion forming a clenching ring to receive prongs carried by an attaching plate, the body of which is arranged on the opposite side of the fabric or other carrying medium. In some instances the clenching portion of the socket memher is formed adjacent the central stud'engaging portion,-but ithas been found better practice to arrange it at the outer periphery. of the socket member to permit greater freedom of movement of the stud engaging portion. v v

In one of the most widely used forms of socket members having the clenching portion at the periphery, the central stud engaging portion extends outwardly, or away from the fabric, and terminates in fingers which engage the stud and which are of 'the thickness of the metal from which the socket member is formed. This results in a certain amount of undesirable play when the shank of theistud, below the head, is of a greater height than the thickness of these lingers.

in the present invention I have provided a socket member and fastening plate having the advantages of simplicity of construction, cheapness of manufacture, and ease of assembly, and possessing certain other advantages over devices of this character heretofore available. j

The socket member is formed of a single piece of metal havingits outer periphery curved to form a clenching portion to receive the prongs carried by an attaching plate. The material of the socket member is then curved inwardly, toward the fabric when in position, and then outwardly to provide resilience for the central stud engaging portion. The metal is split radially to form a plurality of resilient stud engaging fingers. These engaging fingers extendinwardly, toward the fabric, as contrasted to prior constructions, and are sufiiciently resilient to pass the head or" the stud and engage the shank or stem below the head. In a preferred form of the invention the fingers are provided with a ring or bead, the width of which is substantially equal to the length of the shank of the stud below the head so that when the socket member is engaged by a stud, all play or relative motion is eliminated.

The attaching plate is formed of a single piece of metal, preferably dished, and provided with a plurality of prongs cut from the body and extending upwardly therefrom. The prongs are is formed adjacent the central openi thus arranged inwardly of the edge of'tlie plate providing abearing motion outwardly of the points where the'prongs pass through the fabric. By forming the prongs in this manner I also produce an attaching platewhich is of pleasing design and therefore lends itselfto use on portions of garments that are exposed to view.

In the accompanying drawing 1 have shown one embodiment of the invention. In this showing? 7 Fig. 1 is a vertical, sectional view through the socket memberand attaching plate, disassembled showing the fabric or other carrying medium in position between thetwo;

Fig. 2 is a top. plan View of a partlally'formed socket member;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of a socket member in final form;' v

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the attaching plate; and H v Fig. 5 is an assembled view ofthe twc'elements showing the prongs received in the rag portion of the socket member and clencheclfl" Referring to the drawing, the'soc'ket member is formed of a single iece of metal orother suitable material, preferably in'the form ofa disc having a centralopening 2 {see 3) Inone of the first forming operations, a bead I and the disc is provided with a plurality of radial slits 4, shown as six, extending from the centraloperi ing toa point inwardly of the outer edgeor nn. The socket member is shaped to form anvil portion 5 adjacent the outer edge and beyond the anvil portion it is curved inwardly as at '3 to forms. clenching portion or ring. Inwardly of the anvil portion the socket member is curved inwardly as at 7 and outwardly as at 8 to provide resiliency. The portion 9 beyond the outwardly curved portion is in substantially the same plane as the anvil portion 5, forming a socket member that is relatively fiat. plurality of fingers It are formed by the radial slits 4, these fingers extending inwardly as shown. The fingers when bent inwardly are separated from each other due to the fact that they are moved into a circle of larger diameter than the original opening 2, forming spaces l! between the inner ends of the fingers. A portion of the ring or head 3 is arranged on the engagin section of each finger.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 5, the socket member is placed upon one side of a sheet of fabric F or other carrying medium and is secured to the fabric by means of prongs carried by an attach- Beyond the portion 9 a be bent upwardly to form prongs l4. As shown the bases l5 of the prongs are arranged inwardly of the edge of the plate l2 forming a flange or bearing portion I6:

When the two parts are assembled, as shownin. Fig. 5, the prongs [4 are passed through the carrying medium F and engage the anvil portion 5. When pressure is applied, the ends of these prongs curl within the ring portion 6' of the socket member, a :,.iIl.di cat1-; a f! and. the parts re. must-leached oeet on at. th me m lie ian s Q-which-o fo low th curvarn Q thebo iy port on u: ate i=2; as shown F 1, a efi. .n dga-s shownm 5. Th s pror tas a; be r a. urfa e ca criorly f h prongs, and; onthe po i e. ideof the. fabric r m. he ou c -nor ion Qf-Jthe socket member. 'Ijhe construction Qfj the attaching plate in this way not only provides an efficient means for sering; the: cke member; n pos t on, but: als p oduces; n. at in ember. ha is. pleasin appearanc f;- n t ll. d1 on arments and the like in a place where it is cXPQSfid, to View. his e. app rent rom the: nlanview. f attaching plate shown in Fig. 4 of: the. drawing.

ItiaHI-li 1. A device of the character described comprise ner q ke member ad e arranged on one side of a carrying medium and an attaching p te a ran ed a hs pposite. ide. the soc membercomprising a single; piece of material hav a ntral: Op n ng he; ute ed e be ng curvea wardl c ma-cle h ne por on, t e

curved. clenching portion; extending throu h an accuse formed on the attaching plate adapted to pass through the carrying medium and be clenched in the clenching portion of the socket member.

2. A device of the character described comprising a socket member adapted to be arranged on one side of a carrying medium and an attaching plate arranged on the opposite side, the socket member comprising a single piece of material having a, centralcopening, and; having an annular bead-formed on its upper face surrounding said opening, the outer edge being curved inwardly to form a clenching portion, the curved clenching portion extending through an arc of more than 180 to provide an opening between the body portionand the curved portion, the material around the central opening being slitted to form a plurality of fingers, the fingers extending inwardly toward the carrying medium and terminating outwardly of the plane of the edge of the curved clenching portion, a portion of the beadbeing arranged onthe engaging surface of each of a d.- nse s he a t kin la e. b n adapted to be arranged on the-opposite side or the carrying medium, andprongs formed; on the attaching plate adapted topass through the carrying medium and bewclenchedin the clenching portion of thesocket member.

3. A deviceoftthecha-racter described comprise. ing a, socket member. adapted to be arranged on one side of a, carryingmedium and an, attache ingplate aif fangedonthe oppositeside, the socks et memlfierv comprising a single piece otmaterial having a central opening, the outer edge being curved inwardly to forma clenching-portion, the

' curved clenching porti n extending, through an arcof more than 180? to provide an opening between the. body pggrtion and the curvedportion;

gers being curved inwaifdl a distanceless than the dimension otthe-blenching portionand then cur-Ved outwardly to the. plane of the outer face of the clenchingpqrtion, the attaching. platebeing adaptedtobearrangedon the opposite side of. the carrying medium, and. prongs formedonthe attaching plate. adaptedto pass through the.

carrying medium andbeclenched in the clench ing portion of the socket melmber.

CHARLES 3-. B OK- 

